UPDATE: vSphere Client supports Windows 7 as of vSphere 4.0 Update 1. If you aren’t running vSphere 4 Update 1 or later, following the below will allow you to function until you are able to upgrade.

Well, I finally took the plunge on my workstation and installed Windows 7 Professional 64-bit. I really am impressed with the usability. And, like the improvements that have been made. I have been on the Beta on one of my home machines, so I’m not entirely new to the Windows 7 look and feel.

My company is heavily into VMware virtualization, management and disaster recovery, and as such I use VMware vSphere\Infrastructure Client all the time. However, I got some strange errors when I tried to log in to one of our vCenter Servers. I realized that the vSphere Client was not supported on Windows 7, and so I started to do some digging. Here is a result of things I’ve found, and this should help get you going…

PROBLEM:

Error parsing the server “SERVER IP” “clients.xml” file

SOLUTION:

Note: I’m running the 64 bit version of Windows 7, so any reference to “Program Files (x86)” should be referenced as “Program Files” if you are running 32 bit Windows 7.

Step 1. Download the following file: System.dll (this file is a .zip file)

If the “Lib” directory does not exist, then create it and drop in the DLL file.

Step 3. Next, we want to edit the “VpxClient.exe.conf” file which can be found in the C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher directory and add the following three lines just before the end tag:

Step 4. Now we have to create a system environment variable for Windows. Right-click on “Computer” and go to “Properties”. Now click on the “Advanced System Settings” option:

Now, go into the “System Properties” box and click the “Advanced” tab and then click “Environment Variables”

Now create a new “System” variable called ‘DEVPATH’ and assign the following variable value:

(again, making note that it would be %ProgramFiles% instead of %ProgramFiles(x86)% if you are on 32 bit Windows 7)

Done! You will probably have to reboot your Windows machine to make sure the DEVPATH variable is loaded. Also, some people may have to “Run as Administrator” in order for this workaround to work properly.

Note: This workaround bypasses the normal .NET Framework loading mechanism so that assembly versions in the DEVPATH folder are no longer checked. Handle with care.

I understand that at this time, VMware vSphere Client is not supported on Windows 7. Even though I do have a virtual machine running Windows XP in Unity Mode on this workstation, I really wanted the speed of running natively, and not through a VM. So, this is for those who want to run natively in Windows 7, at least until a supported version of VMware vSphere Client is out.

I understand that at this time, VMware vSphere Client is not supported on Windows 7. Even though I do have a virtual machine running Windows XP in Unity Mode on this workstation, I really wanted the speed of running natively, and not through a VM. So, this is for those who want to run natively in Windows 7, at least until a supported version of VMware vSphere Client is out.